--- Pat Bensky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello Framers, > I am thinking of writing a book about database > publishing. It would cover > publishing with InDesign and Quark (possibly > FrameMaker and Word as well) > using the following methods: > > InDesign tags > Quark tags > Xtags, Xdata > XML > RTF (perhaps) > FrameMaker tags (maybe) =================================== I've been developing database publishing applications for clients for about 14 years. In some cases, I deliver turnkey applications to my customer. In other cases, I produce the finished output (typically annually).
Your list of methods barely scratches the surface, and does seem to address only the most simple database publishing applications, which, in my experience, is rarely enough. Nor do you seem to be addressing he wide array of products/solutions which are available, as well as the extremely wide variety of applications in which database publishing can be employed effectively. Your definition of what you mean by database publishing will determine the scope of your book. The broadest definition would encompass all special solutions whose purpose is to process raw output from a database so as to deliver it in a form that is useable to both human and non-human users. In the case of delivery to human users, such solutions typically include customizeable middleware which can receive/processe/manipulate the raw database output, and makes the processed data compatible with the selected formatting/output engine (e.g., FrameMaker, Quark, Word (ugh) or InDesign). If, for example, FrameMaker is chosen as the formatting/output engine, several customizable middleware products are available, including PatternStream, Miramo and UniMerge. Such middlewar products require the development of a special application for each production operation, which may, among other things, involve evaluatiing each database record so as to select/delete/rearrange the sequence of the data fields in each record before it is delivered to FrameMaker. UniMerge (the product I use) can also specify the FrameMaker format tag to be applied to individual fields, add markers to specify fields whose content is used to produce running header/footers, specify fields which are to be included in a table of contents, insert static text above, below or within a sequence of record fields, specify that some or all fields in a record field be placed within a FrameMaker table, truncate the data in a field, add mathematical operations on rows or columns in a tabular array, and many other functions which radically alter the raw database input before delivering output to FrameMaker. Very large database publishing solutions are very complex, and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop,operate and maintain successfully. === Dan Emory & Associates FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to Framers as [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send list messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.